My Clever Girl

A couple of weeks ago Jenni came over and was looking through the current "Homespun" magazine. She put in a request for one of the quilts and decided she would make the embroidered bag for herself using black fabric and bright colours rather than the pretty colours in the original.

Jenni is on school holidays at the moment (she is a primary school teacher), came over to visit last night and cut out a piece of fabric for the embroidered section of the bag. When I arrived home from work tonight Jenni was here to show me her finished embroidery.


I was so surprised and happy to see this. The photo at the top of my blog is Jenni about age 7 doing a cross stitch (which is still not finished). I love that photo.

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Great Little Holiday

Bags packed.

,
Birthday brunch.


Party preparations


Party fun.


Bill the Builder browning the creme brulees


Birthday cake


Blowing out the candles


A bit of sewing at Diann's - all the Picnic blocks (80+) are pieced.  I'm waiting for some more fabric to arrive to make more blocks.

I flew back to Sydney on Sunday afternoon, met up with Jenni and some friends - we all went to see

I so enjoyed this show - much more than I expected to.  

Last night I finally finished off Block 7 of Gingham Girls.  This quilt is taking me for-e-ver to make - I blame that on going back to work and being too tired at night to feel like doing anything more energetic than lolling on the couch.

Stepping Stones

Today is my dear friend, Diann's, BIG birthday and I am very fortunate to be able to spend today and another few days with her and Bill the Builder.

I've had a little pile of special Fig Tree fabric put aside for Diann for quite a while and I wasn't sure what to make for her birthday present using this Fig and Plum until, almost a year ago, Karen suggested we make Stepping Stones together.

The quilt was finished about 2 weeks ago and has turned out pretty well.

"Stepping Stones" from "Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts" by Pam and Nicky Lintott

 72" x 96"

I'll be at Diann's till Sunday ... so good to be having a holiday.

On the Plane

On my way to spend a few days with Diann.

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A Wedding Present

The trip to Sydney last night was so that my friend, and Elizabeth's Godmother, could deliver the wedding present she'd made for Elizabeth and Matt to the newlyweds.

And this is what was inside the box.

So very beautiful.  This is a present Elizabeth and Matt will treasure forever.

Lynell is so clever and her stained-glass work is beautiful.  She made a fabulous mirror for Michael and Peta's wedding present.

We had such a fun time with the kids at the Korean BBQ - another new experience for me.

At one stage the conversation turned to Magnum icecreams and the various flavours, particularly the specialty flavours that were out over 10 years ago.  Matt and Michael slipped out to the ATM and when they came back Michael pulled Magnum Egos out of his jacket pocket for all of us.  Fantastic dessert.

Swap Presents

Last night was opening night for our on-line group's first swap of the year.  The theme was Natalie Bird and, as usual, so many beautiful presents were made and sent across the country.

My first partner is Fiona and I'm going to use the photos she took of what she made because they are much better than any I take.

 Fiona made me "True Friends Tote Bag" from Natalie Bird's Red Home book - the stitching and sewing are so lovely.  I don't have any French General fabrics so this bag is a lovely introduction.

 Fiona also included a very sweet purse that will be great for threads, scissors etc and a Hatched and Patched notepad.  I love anything from Anni.

My other partner was Lorraine and I made her the Patchwork Caddy from Natalie's Book "With Thread and Needle" using red and white fabrics from the Oh Cherry Oh range (from reading Loz's blog I gather she likes redwork).

Was lovely chatting with the girls last night - fast and furious as always.

During the week I cut out a quilt for some people who are so dear to me - "Picnic" by Kim Brackett from her "Scrapbasket Sensations" book - so many great quilts in her books.

I'm using some of the fabrics I won in Di Mill's giveaway.  Some of the other fabric has gone to the Tuesday girls and the rest I'll use over the next while.

Going to Sydney tonight for dinner with the children - hard to believe it's Michael and Peta's first wedding anniversary tomorrow week.  My friend Lynell has made a wedding present for Elizabeth and Matt and we are going up so she can give it to them.  Can't wait to see what she's made - something using stained glass.

Scrappy Simplicity

I finished off this quilt on Good Friday - another quilt top that had been lying around for a while.  The quilt is made from all the leftover Simplicity fabrics and off-cuts from the half-square triangles in that quilt - loads and loads of pinwheels.

I sent this top to Bec for quilting along with the Simplicity medallion quilt and Bec has done a fabulous job.

Over the weekend I've spent some time tidying up the sewing room - not sure if it is a good idea as I found 3 quilt tops and a stack of cute machine-embroidered critters.  The cute critters are now in blocks and I'm working on the sashings.

 This has been an excellent Easter.  Had dinner with friends last night - great company and excellent food (lamb roast dinner, Baileys chocolate mousse and bread and butter pudding).